CLIFTON — New Jersey might not have a representative in the NCAA tournament, but a restaurant chain whose first East Coast location opened in the state is still alive in the "Burger Brackets."

Zinburger Wine and Burger Bar, with locations in Clifton, Paramus and Cherry Hill, has advanced to the Sweet 16 of the BurgerBusiness.com Burger Brackets.

BurgerBusiness.com is a website covering burgers and the people and restaurants that serve them. For the past four years, the website has invited 64 burger brands, a mix of big chains, small chains and independent restaurants, to participate in a tournament testing their level of customer support.

Each brand is placed in one of four brackets, named after the patriarchs of famous burger chains: Dave Thomas(Wendy's), Ray Kroc (McDonald's), Jim McLamore (Burger King) and Carl Karcher (Carl's Jr.). Fans vote in the comment section of the website to decide which brand advances.

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Zinburger, seeded 13th (no explanation for how the seeding works) in the Thomas bracket, has advanced past Luxe Burger Bar, a Rhode Island restaurant; and Crave Real Burgers, a Colorado chain. Now it's matched up against Johnny Rockets, a No. 1 seed with locations around the world.

Voting for the round of 16 continues through Friday at 8 p.m. on BurgerBusiness.com.
Correction: This article orignally said Zinburger was founded in Clifton. Zinburger was founded in Arizona. A New Jersey company opened the first east coast location in Clifton.